I understand French well enough to read the tittles of the threads and to see that were I really able to understand French this would be an ideal forum - but not wellenough to read the content of the posts.

Well there are some out there, full of idiots, nothing like the quality of the French forum. I don't know if we need another sub-forum here, but I certainly don't see why people here shouldn't discuss history and culture. I'd actually bet an OCT that conversation about such things with people from here would be much, much, more interesting, entertaining and profitable with the usual kinds who hang about such fora.

The more I think about this proposed sub-forum here the more I like it. I tire of the sometimes almost mindless jingoistic nationalism sometimes displayed on other history forum venues. It will be interesting reading the opinions of those closer connected to sources such as I assume we have here.

I've never done a coursera course before, but I've heard a lot about them. The nice thing is that they are entirely free and that they are taught by university professors. The teaching is done through video lectures.

About the CourseThis course is a survey of ancient Greek history, covering the roughly 13 centuries that extended from the Minoan / Mycenaean Bronze Age (ca. 1800-1200 BCE) down to the death of Socrates in 399 BCE. Along with studying the most important events and personalities, we will consider broader issues such as political and cultural values and methods of historical interpretation.Some of the topics we will cover include: relations between the Greeks and their neighbors to the East; Homer and the heroic ideal; the development of the type of community called the "polis"; the diffusion of Greek civilization from Southern Italy to the shores of the Black Sea; gods and mortals in myth, religion and ritual; the roles of women; Athenian drama; the treatment of slaves and foreigners; and the birth and evolution of democracy. We will strive to get as full an understanding as we can of this extraordinary, and extraordinarily influential, society.

Almost all the reading assignments are from ancient sources in translation. No previous knowledge of ancient history is assumed.

Outside the forum we can hear the games beginning, but the seats are all empty. Jeff and the mayor of Strongsville—the honorable Jimmy James—are cutting the ribbon and dedicating the new forum to us—we devoted fans of ancient history. But we stand outside shivering with our tickets in hand, patient and eager for the six days of celebrations that will commence upon the opening. For days I have read and reread Dickey's Ancient Greek Scholarhip, even as the rains pelt us yet again.

Annis is reciting Hesiod in his loudest voice. Scribo is holding his golden moderator key above his crowd, imploring them to raise their voices so that the gatekeeper hears us and raises the drawbridge over the moat. Alas, is that Chad on a pegasus riding in from Australia in the distance?

Osterdeich wrote:Outside the forum we can hear the games beginning, but the seats are all empty. Jeff and the mayor of Strongsville—the honorable Jimmy James—are cutting the ribbon and dedicating the new forum to us—we devoted fans of ancient history. But we stand outside shivering with our tickets in hand, patient and eager for the six days of celebrations that will commence upon the opening. <snip>If only we had the proper "permissions"…

Not giving us the proper permissions is a cunning ploy to build the excitement.